Nine Lives (2005) Critic Reviews

What could have been a parlor game becomes a surprisingly rich sketchbook, boosted by the work of fine actors.Read the full review

That rare episode film that actually accrues a cumulative power and doesn't merely proceed from one segment to the next.Read the full review

As a film composed entirely of nine continuous long takes, Nine Lives certainly qualifies as unique. But what makes it rarer and more auspicious is that it offers such a rich bounty of great roles for middle-aged women.Read the full review

A bold film both in its storytelling strategies and its filmmaking logistics.Read the full review

Together, however, they add up to a film that may be the closest movies have come to the cinematic equivalent of a collection of Chekhov short stories.Read the full review

A movie like this, with the appearance of new characters and situations, focuses us; we watch more intently, because it is important what happens.Read the full review

The beauty of Nine Lives is that its occasionally overlapping stories feel entirely unforced; Garcia's is a filmmaking style of rare lyricism, compassion and discretion.Read the full review

Though the episodic structure results in a whole not quite equal to some of its parts, pic is an unusually tender, perceptive character study buoyed by stellar performances from a who's who of talented (and many underused) actresses.Read the full review

Not all of Nine Lives clicks, but at its best it finds an inarticulate sisterly solace that makes you want to see what this director could do with one life per film.Read the full review